Outlawed Jamaat-ud-Dawa (JuD) chief and Mumbai terror attack mastermind Hafiz Saeed on Monday dared the Pakistani government to arrest him if it can and said he will not stop fighting the case of Kashmiri people.“If the Pakistani government wants to arrest me…come and go for it but I will not stop dedicating 2018 for Kashmiris,” Saeed said while addressing a rally here.“We will emerge more strongly if you try to suppress us,” said Saeed, who was listed as a Specially Designated Global Terrorist by the US. He criticised ousted prime minister Nawaz Sharif for not playing his role on the issue of Kashmir.“We may initiate efforts to make you (Sharif) prime minister again if you pledge to work for freedom of Kashmir,” he said.He also claimed that on the pressure of the US and India “our media coverage is banned in Pakistan”.

Saeed, who was released from house arrest in Pakistan in November, carries a $10 million bounty on his head.He asked the government to allow the UN Security Council monitoring team to visit JuD and FIF centres in the country so that it could come to know about their charity work. “We welcome the international monitoring teams to our centres.”The JuD is believed to be the front organization for the LeT which is responsible for carrying out the Mumbai attack that killed 166 people. It has been declared as a foreign terrorist organisation by the US in June 2014.

Saeed also accused India of seeking help from Israelis to “suppress the freedom struggle” of Kashmiris, according to local daily Pakistan Today. “India has made dangerous plans with the help of Israel, against Pakistan’s security,” he said.

Claiming the Modi government has “failed in Kashmir”, Saeed alleged that secret agreements were signed regarding Balochistan. He also urged Pakistan Prime Minister Shahid Khaqan Abbasi to protest for Kashmiris, and criticised ouster premier Nawaz Sharif for not doing enough for the Kashmiri cause.

India has consistently said that Saeed was the mastermind of the terror attack in Mumbai in November 2008. The US, which backs India on this, has a $10-million bounty for him. Saeed, a United Nations-designated terrorist, was freed from a 297-day-long house arrest on November 24, 2017 after an order from the Lahore High Court. The US and India had reacted sharply against his release.

On January 24, Pakistan Prime Minister Abbasi said that his government will push ahead with plans to seize control of charities run by Hafiz Saeed, days after the United States reiterated its demand to Pakistan to prosecutethe Jamaat-ud-Dawa chief. Abbasi on January 16 claimed that there was no case against Saeed. In the interview with a local television channel, the prime minister had also referred to Saeed as “sahib” or “sir”.

Outlawed Jamaat-ud-Dawa (JuD) chief and Mumbai terror attack mastermind Hafiz Saeed on Monday dared the Pakistani government to arrest him if it can and said he will not stop fighting the case of Kashmiri people.